![]() |
|
This week the Tribunal continued to hear the evidence of Patrick O’Donnell who was shot in the shoulder as he was taking cover in Glenfada Park North. Daniel Gillespie told the Tribunal how he was hit by a bullet when he was in Glenfada Park North.
Hugh Gallagher was 15 years old at the time of Bloody Sunday and was arrested before the march had started. He was talking with neighbours on Long Tower Street when he was arrested. Soldier 104 had said that he had been arrested for throwing stones.
John Carr was watching from the window of his house in Abbey Drive when he saw Gerard McKinney shot whilst he had both his hands in the air. Mr Carr described a soldier running over the body lying in the corner of Glenfada Park North. Denis McLaughlin identified himself as the youth who was photographed in a distressed state at the gable end of Glenfada Park North. Greg Doherty was one of the first people to enter Glenfada Park North after the shootings and helped carry the body of William McKinney into Abbey Park. He said that Mr McKinney was still alive when he was carried away.
A full transcript of proceedings is available at http://www.bloody-sunday-inquiry.org.uk
1
PATRICK O’DONNELL’S EVIDENCE
1.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
1.1.1
Glenfada Park North
Mr O’Donnell agreed that it is possible that he was hit by a bullet which came from a soldier at the north end of the car park who fired a shot which would have gone through the slats in the fencing and hit him in the shoulder either directly or from off the wall.
1.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
Mr Glasgow told Mr O’Donnell that he will make no suggestion that he did anything that deserved him being shot or that he was guilty of any offence.
1.2.1
Glenfada Park North
Mr O’Donnell was asked about the report published in the Guardian which said he had been shot as he threw himself on top of a woman when he saw a soldier taking aim at her. He said that the article was not correct.
Mr O’Donnell had been at the corner with a woman and another man. He said that he had not seen a soldier take aim before he was shot. Mr O’Donnell saw people running in every direction before he huddled down.
1.2.2
Medical evidence
Mr O’Donnell did not know that fragments of bullets were removed from his wound.
1.2.3
Taxi office
Mr O’Donnell said that it was the taxi driver who asked him to go and sit down in the taxi office. Mr O’Donnell agreed that it is possible that to a soldier that might have appeared that he simply walked away from the area of arrest.
Mr O’Donnell said that he was not carried into the taxi office. He did not go into the back office. The wound to his head was an inch and a half long.
1.2.4
1972 statement
Mr O’Donnell said that the reason there is a blank in his 1972 statement at the place name where an injured man and boy were taken was because he probably did not know the name of the street.
1.3
FURTHER QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
1.3.1
Taxi office
Mr O’Donnell does not recall seeing any coffins in the taxi office.
1.3.2
Glenfada Park North
Mr O’Donnell recalls seeing two soldiers.
2 DON CAMPBELL’S EVIDENCE
2.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
2.1.1
Glenfada Park North
Mr Campbell saw William McKinney in the middle of the car park of Glenfada Park North. He saw somebody being carried past towards the entrance to Abbey Park. He had heard shots being fired near to him. There were roughly 20 people in Glenfada Park at this time.
He said that he could not recall whether he remembered
seeing a body being carried past when he gave his statement to Eversheds.
He had no reason not to tell the BSI about a person he saw being carried
through Glenfada Park.
Mr Campbell noticed about 10 soldiers running along behind the garages to the north of Glenfada Park. He thought the soldiers were sealing the whole lot of Glenfada Park off.
Mr Campbell saw people running down Rossville Street. There were lots of people lying down on the rubble barricade. One young man was lying flat out on his back and was not moving. He saw a second and third person. The third person was injured and had people around him. He was crouching down near to the barricade. He had nothing in his hands.
2.1.2
South of the Rossville Flats
Mr Campbell said that he looked towards the bottom of Block 1. He could see a group of people and heard someone shout from that group that another person had been shot and he and Mr McKinney and three others ran across.
He saw a young man carried round the corner from the direction of the front door of the Rossville Flats. While this was going on, just as the man had been laid down, a rush of people came through the gap between Blocks 1 and 2. All the time he could hear shooting coming from the car park area of the Rossville Flats and from Glenfada Park North.
Mr Campbell said that he ran with William McKinney and a couple of others south towards the gardens northwest of Joseph Place and took cover behind the three penny bits. He could see a commotion at the bottom of the pram ramp at Glenfada Park South. Mr Campbell said that Mr McKinney made three attempts to go and take pictures but that he had pulled him down to stop him going.
Three or so shots seemed to whiz over his head. He thought that they were coming from the Derry walls. He remembers Father Mulvey waving his hanky north up Rossville Street towards were the soldiers where and calling for help. At that point, William McKinney jumped up and ran across Rossville Street.
2.1.3
William McKinney
Mr Campbell said that Mr McKinney ran to a group that was surrounding a body at the gable end of Glenfada Park North. Mr McKinney leaned over to look at the body and then suddenly fell down near to it on the pavement outside Glenfada Park.
As he ran towards the Glenfada Park North car park, Mr Campbell saw a soldier who was alone and appeared dazed. He was standing behind the wall of a small garden. He had a rifle and was leaning on it.
2.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
2.2.1
William McKinney
Mr Campbell agreed that he did not make a statement at the time of Bloody Sunday. The first and only statement he ever made was to Eversheds. He agreed that his recollections are vague and that being asked to recount his experiences was very confusing.
Mr Treacy told Mr Campbell that the great body of evidence before the Tribunal suggests that by the time the ambulance had arrived, William McKinney was already dead.
Mr Campbell does not recall seeing William McKinney with a cine camera. Mr Treacy told Mr Campbell that the last incident that was recorded on Mr McKinney’s cine camera was before any of the shootings on the rubble barricade or Glenfada Park North had taken place.
2.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
2.3.1
Rossville Street
Mr Campbell said that the reason he crossed Rossville Street was because somebody had been shot outside the Rossville Flats. He felt that shots were coming from the Derry Walls behind him and decided to try and get back across the road again.
2.3.2
William McKinney
Mr Campbell recalls William McKinney collapsing quite near the gable of Glenfada Park North. He helped carry Mr McKinney from a point near the entrance to Abbey Park.
3 GERARD McCARTNEY’S EVIDENCE
Mr McCartney was the reporter for the Derry Journal who was covering the march.
3.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
3.1.1
Rubble barricade
Mr McCartney first heard shots when he was climbing over the rubble barricade. He ran to the gable end of Glenfada Park North. He saw a young man running over the barricade fall to the ground. He later found out that the young man was Michael Kelly. He recalls people running out to lift the youth to where he was. He said that he thinks the youth had his back to the soldiers as he fell. Mr Clarke told him that Michael Kelly was shot by a bullet that entered his left lower stomach and lodged within his body.
3.1.2
Civilian gunmen
Mr McCartney went to find some medical assistance and ran to the Blucher Street area. He saw a man wearing a three quarter length coat, holding a rifle in an upright position.
In his 1972 statement, Mr McCartney referred to the civilian gunman appearing at the opening to Rossville Street and crossing inside Glenfada Park in the direction of Abbey Street. Mr McCartney said that it was only when he had virtually got to Fahan Street that he saw the gunman. He did not think that the gunman was close to the rubble barricade.
Mr McCartney said that he has a memory of seeing the civilian gunman at an entranceway closer to the area between Glenfada Park and Abbey Park.
3.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
3.2.1
Civilian gunman
Mr McCartney said that his memory of seeing the civilian gunman is between leaving the rubble barricade and going up Fahan Street to cross to Blucher Street.
3.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
3.3.1
Civilian gunman
Mr McCartney said that he has a memory, which could be wrong, of seeing someone being shot as they came across the rubble barricade. He has no recollection of anybody standing, walking or running to the north of Mr Kelly at the time when he saw him fall.
3.3.2
Derry Journal
Mr McCartney said that the main story in the Derry Journal about Bloody Sunday was written by the editor. He said that the newspaper would have been aware of what he had seen. He said that so many people had seen so much and there had been so many deaths that a global report of events was given.
3.4
FURTHER QUESTIONS ASKED ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
3.4.1
Rubble barricade
Mr McCartney said that he was not conscious of shots fired from the rubble barricade or of hearing the explosions.
He was not conscious of anybody else being brought into Glenfada Park.
4
PATRICK DOHERTY’S EVIDENCE
4.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
4.1.1
Rubble barricade
Mr Doherty could see Rossville Street from his position near the gable end of Glenfada Park North. He saw a soldier step out from the north gable end of Glenfada Park North. The soldier fired a rubber bullet which hit a man on the chest who went down on the ground. The man was directly behind Mr Doherty. He later found out that the man was called Mr Liddy.
Mr Doherty went to help Mr Liddy who told him not to worry about him and pointed to a young man who had been shot just a few yards away. Mr Doherty and some other people carried the young man (Michael Kelly) into Glenfada Park. He had heard no shooting except for the soldier who fired the rubber bullet gun at Mr Liddy.
Mr Doherty did not see anyone at any stage anywhere near the rubble barricade with a fizzing or smoking object or anyone with a pistol or revolver.
4.1.2
Glenfada Park North
Mr Doherty heard a lot of intense shooting. Everyone began to run and scatter including most of the people who had been helping to carry Michael Kelly.
4.1.3
Abbey Park
Mr Doherty took Mr Kelly to a house in Abbey Park. As he came through Glenfada Park North, he had not seen any other injured people. Jim Wray was taken into the same house as Michael Kelly. Mr Doherty was in the house in Abbey Park for 20 minutes. The bodies of Mr Kelly and Mr Wary were still in the house when he left.
4.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
4.2.1
Rubble barricade/Glenfada Park North
Mr Doherty said that he was not sure whether the rubber bullet that hit Mr Liddy came before the live bullet that hit Michael Kelly. He does not know why the group carrying Michael Kelly initially went towards the north of Glenfada Park North.
Mr Doherty did not see a petrol bomb in Glenfada Park North. He would have had no idea if one was thrown behind his back as he was running across Glenfada Park North.
5.1
QUESTION SON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
5.1.1
Glenfada Park North
Mr Doran saw Jim Wray running in the car park of Glenfada Park North. He did not see any soldiers but the general impression was that there were soldiers in that area. There was pandemonium in the car park. People were climbing into alcoves trying to get out of the way.
5.1.2
Abbey Park
Mr Doran saw a man crouched in a kneeling position in a gap or alleyway on the steps between Abbey Park and Glenfada Park. The man seemed to have some sort of fit or spasm as if he had been given an electric shock and then he keeled over.
Mr Doran saw 6 or 7 soldiers. He said that they were shouting amongst themselves and seemed to not know what they were doing.
6 HUGH GALLAGHER’S EVIDENCE
Mr Gallagher was 15 years old at the time of Bloody Sunday.
6.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
6.1.1
Long Tower Street
Mr Gallagher lived on Long Tower Street. He was standing talking to Mrs Casey and her son, Sean when a large soldier walked past him. The soldier walked as far as the Long Tower Bar, turned around, came back and grabbed Mr Gallagher. This happened before the march had started, at about 1:00pm or 2:00pm.
Mr Gallagher had not said anything to the soldier who grabbed him. He was doing nothing other than talking to Mrs Casey and her son. The soldier did not tell him why he was being arrested. Mr Gallagher was walked up Long Tower Street to a checkpoint and was handed to Soldier 104.
6.1.2
Detention
Soldier 104 took Mr Gallagher to an old fashioned jail at the junction of Henrietta Street and Bennet Street. A group of Orange men shouted ‘fenian bastard’ at him. When Mr Gallagher replied ‘Orange bastards,’ Soldier 104 told him to shut up or he would throw him to the Orange men.
Mr Gallagher was held at the jail for about an hour and was then taken by land rover to the Foyle Road detention centre. He was photographed next to Soldier 104. He was then taken to the RUC desk and met by Sergeant McGoldrick. In due course, Mr Gallagher’s father was called and he came and collected him.
6.1.3
Charge of riotous behaviour
Mr Gallagher appeared in court on 7 March 2001 charged with riotous behaviour. The charge was dismissed and the magistrate said that ‘there was a doubt in the case and the defendant was entitled to the benefit of it.’
6.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
6.2.1
Soldier 104
Mr Gallagher agreed that he had been taken to the detention centre to be ‘fitted up.’ He did not know that the mandatory penalty for riotous behaviour at that time was 6 months imprisonment.
Mr Gallagher said that two soldiers had given evidence at the magistrates court to the effect that he had been throwing stones in Barrack Street and that he was guilty of riotous behaviour.
Mr Gallagher was not aware that Soldier 104 is the soldier who made the allegation about Joe Friel.
6.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
6.3.1
Soldier 104
Soldier 104 has no recollection of the incident.
7 DANNY GILLESPIE’S EVIDENCE
Mr Gillespie was 32 years old at the time of Bloody Sunday. A bullet grazed the top of his head when he was in Glenfada Park North.
7.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
7.1.1
William Street
Mr Gillespie said that he was standing opposite Con Bradley’s bar when he saw Tommy Whoriskey hit in the mouth by a rubber bullet which was fired from the direction of Barrier 14.
Mr Gillespie said that the bullet had badly cut Mr Whoriskey’s lip and face. He said that the cuts were attributable to broken glass which had been packed into a bullet. Mr Gillespie said that he saw lots of thick pieces of broken glass around. He pointed the rubber bullet out to one of the photographers. (Ciaran Donnelly of the Irish Times gave the photograph of the rubber bullet to the BSI.)
7.1.2
Rossville Street
Mr Gillespie said that CS gas was still being fired at Barrier 14. He and Paddy Crawley went down Rossville Street because Mr Crawley had a bad chest.
Mr Gillespie said that he left Mr Crawley by the Rossville Flats and went into Glenfada Park North. He then went back to Kells Walk and saw the APCs coming in. Mr Gillespie ran south back towards the rubble barricade and ran into Glenfada Park North.
7.1.3
Glenfada Park North
Mr Gillespie made his way across to the trees that lined the centre of the courtyard. He saw a group of 8 people carrying a young boy at shoulder height towards the alleyway that leads to Abbey Park. He said that he was told later that the young boy was Michael Kelly. Mr Gillespie did not recognise the photographs of the group carrying Mr Kelly.
Mr Gillespie followed the crowd with the body to Abbey Park. He then returned to Glenfada Park North. As he approached the trees in the centre of the courtyard, he saw 5 or 6 boys coming through the alleyway to Abbey Park carrying broken flagstones. Mr Gillespie told them that he had heard live rounds and they should go somewhere safe. He saw a soldier directly in front of him in the archway. The soldier was on his own. Mr Gillespie heard a sharp crack and felt a burning sensation on the top of the left side of his head. He was stationary and facing the soldier when he was shot. He remembers two of the boys that he had been telling off, asking him if he was alright.
Mr Gillespie thought that the boy to his left was shot because he was conscious of another shot being fired and a boy fell on top of him. He did not see any wound or blood on the boy.
At the time that he was shot, he was not conscious of anything else going on in the car park apart from the 5 or 6 boys with broken flagstones. He had not heard any explosion or seen anybody with anything like a weapon.
7.1.4
Vinny Coyle’s house
Mr Gillespie stumbled up the steps to Abbey Park. He met Joe Moran and Michael Canavan who helped him to Lisfannon Park. He was then taken to Vinny Coyle’s house where it was known that treatment would be available for people hurt in demonstrations.
7.1.5
Sunday Times archive
Mr Gillespie said that he was not conscious of a soldier with a Sterling machine gun.
Mr Gillespie said that he had never discussed Bloody Sunday with his brother, Billy. He had no discussion with Billy about a civilian gunman. He did not know whether Billy had helped Mrs Deery into 33 Chamberlain Street.
7.1.6
Praxis notes
Mr Gillespie remembers being interviewed by Praxis for the 20th anniversary documentary. He said that he was not with three people who had been throwing stones in Abbey Park and who had come back into Glenfada Park. He did not come back with the boys who had the flagstones.
Mr Gillespie has no recollection of a bullet hitting the wall and then hitting him. He cannot recall whether he had told the documentary makers this. He did not stand against a wall in Glenfada Park. He did not notice two people who had been shot. He only noticed the lad who fell on top of him.
7.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
7.2.1
Glenfada Park North
Mr Gillespie is not sure whether there were one or two occasions when he was standing by the trees. There was a body taken through the alleyway to Abbey Park. Lord Gifford suggested that there were many people running across Glenfada Park when Michael Kelly was carried across. Mr Gillespie said that there were people in the courtyard but he cannot remember how many. When he came back into Glenfada Park North he did not think that he was going into any area where there was shooting.
Mr Gillespie did not see any stones being thrown.
7.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
7.3.1
Rubber bullet
Mr Gillespie said that he definitely saw rubber bullets coming from the upper end of William Street. At that time, the soldiers had already started to move on foot.
Mr Gillespie said that the rubber bullet had glass in it, but there was no glass in it when he picked it up. Mr Glasgow said that Ciaran Donnelly had given evidence that the bullet he photographed was packed with a nail.
7.3.2
Glenfada Park North
Mr Gillespie said that he did not see the body that was being carried across the courtyard put down at any stage. He did not see the body being carried northwards.
The boys were definitely carrying flagstones.
7.3.3
Irish Times article
In an article for the Irish Times, the journalist Dick Grogan said that he had interviewed Tony Martin who told him that Danny Gillespie was hit by a bullet from a low velocity weapon like a Sterling. Mr Gillespie said that he does not know how Mr Martin got that impression. He said that it was not true to say that he was shot while he was helping the wounded.
7.3.4
Michael McGinley’s evidence
Michael McGinley said that he had seen an argument taking place near a man who had been wounded in the scalp in the area around Meenan Square/Meenan Park. Mr Gillespie said that he has no recollection of this incident and does not know Michael McGinley.
7.3.5
Vinny Coyle’s house
Mr Gillespie said that Vinny Coyle’s house was the focal point for people with injuries. Mr Gillespie’s head was shaved and his wound was cleaned. He could not say whether there was a doctor there. Mr Gillespie said that he was in the house for a few minutes and he decided not to go to hospital.
7.4
FURTHER QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
7.4.1
Sterling sub machine gun
Mr Gillespie saw a soldier with a Sterling sub machine gun going into Glenfada Park when he was making his way home.
7.4.2
Michael McGinley’s evidence
Mr Gillespie was shown Michael McGinley’s evidence. Mr McGinley said that he saw an argument taking place near a man who was bleeding from the head. The people arguing where shouting at a person ‘you nearly got us all killed.’ Mr Gillespie said that he lived around Eglington Place.
8 PATRICK KELLY’S EVIDENCE
8.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
8.1.1
Free Derry Corner
Mr Kelly joined the march late because he was attending his daughter’s christening at Pennyburn church.
He was walking towards Free Derry Corner when he heard what he thought were rubber bullets. Someone else shouted that they were live bullets and others shouted ‘watch the walls.’ He could see 12 soldiers on the city walls.
He arrived at Free Derry Corner at 3:50pm and said that Bernadette Devlin was beginning to speak.
8.1.2
Abbey Park
Mr Kelly ran north to avoid the shooting from the walls. He saw the body of Barney McGuigan. He turned and ran towards Lisfannon Park. He saw 50 to 60 people standing for shelter in Glenfada Park South.
There were 10 or 12 people in the alleyway between Glenfada Park South and Abbey Park.
Mr Kelly said that he saw a woman sitting on a bollard whose leg was bleeding. A Knight of Malta was tending to her.
Mr Kelly moved further into the alleyway between Glenfada Park South and Abbey Park and he saw a young man coming towards him. The young man was dragging one of his legs and there were two others helping him. He took it that the boy had been shot in the leg. Mr Kelly does not remember seeing a group of people clustered around what might have been a body in an alleyway.
8.1.3
Glenfada Park North
Mr Kelly went into Glenfada Park North with his friend to look for wounded people. His attention was caught by two soldiers standing at the northwest entrance to the car park. One was small and broad. He had a blackened face and wore a helmet with the visor up. The other soldier who was tall and black pointed and said ‘get back you Irish bastards.’ Both soldiers were standing in the northeast entrance. They put their guns up and Mr Kelly’s group retreated back and sheltered in the alleyway.
He does not remember a female Knight of Malta. He did not hear any shots fired.
After a couple of minutes, Mr Kelly crept back into Glenfada Park North with at least two people. The soldiers had disappeared. Mr Kelly saw three bodies on the pavement along the south side of Glenfada Park North. He helped carry the body closest to him who seemed to be dead. He passed the body over to the others in the area of steps then went back to Glenfada Park North.
8.1.4
Rossville Street
Later Mr Kelly crossed Rossville Street and stood near to the body of Barney McGuigan by the telephone box. An ambulance arrived. He heard a lot of shots. He could not be sure where the shots were coming from because people were sheltering on each side of the ambulance.
8.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
8.2.1
1972 accounts
For Peace Justice & Human Rights ![]()